Chandragupta Maurya and the Founding of the Mauryan Empire

At a Glance

• Founder Chandragupta Maurya
• Adviser Chanakya (Kautilya)
• Defeated Nandas; Seleucus
• Treaty 500 elephants for territory and a bride
• Successor Bindusara
• Exam link UPSC Prelims, Ancient History: Mauryan Empire

Where Does It Fit?

This is the second topic of the category on the Mauryan Empire. The previous topic surveyed the sources, and this one covers the founder. The next topic covers Mauryan administration. Previous topic: Megasthenes Epigraphic source Ashokan edicts Literary Mudrarakshasa, Puranas, Buddhist and…">Sources for the Study of the Mauryan Empire.

Who Was Chandragupta Maurya?

In short: the founder of the Mauryan dynasty came from an ordinary family, and traditions disagree about his birth.

The Maurya dynasty was founded by Chandragupta Maurya, who seems to have belonged to an ordinary family. According to the brahmanical tradition he was born of Mura, a shudra woman in the court of the Nandas. An earlier Buddhist tradition describes the Mauryas as the ruling clan of the little republic of Pipphalivana in the Gorakhpur region near the Nepalese terai, and Chandragupta was likely a member of this clan. The Greek writers recorded his name as Sandrakottus or Sandrakoptus. They show him as a youth living in Taxila when Alexander invaded India. Another account places the founding of the empire at 321 BCE. He took advantage of the Nandas in the last days of their rule, who by then were weak and unpopular, as seen in Rise and Growth of the Magadhan Empire.

How Did He Overthrow the Nandas?

With the help of Chanakya, known as Kautilya, he overthrew the Nandas and established the Mauryan dynasty. Chanakya, also called Vishnugupta, was a brahmana and a sworn adversary of the Nandas, and he is celebrated as the author of the Arthashastra. His machinations against Chandragupta’s enemies are described in detail in the Mudrarakshasa, a play by Vishakhadatta. Contemporary Buddhist and Jaina texts hardly mention Chanakya, but popular oral tradition credits the greatness of the reign to his wisdom. Another account suggests that Chandragupta, inspired by Alexander, led a revolt against the Nandas, either by inciting the people against an unpopular monarch or by securing their support. Alexander’s death created a void in the north-west, which helped him conquer many small chiefdoms and bring the region into his empire. The fall of the Nandas was also the end of their huge army, which had stopped Alexander’s soldiers at the Beas, as in Alexander’s Invasion and its Effects.

What Happened in the War with Seleucus?

Justin, a Greek writer, says that Chandragupta overran the whole of India with an army of 600,000, which may or may not be true. Chandragupta liberated north-western India from the control of Seleucus, who ruled the area west of the Indus. Local accounts say he destroyed the Greek prefects left behind by Alexander. In the war with the Greek viceroy Chandragupta appears to have emerged victorious, defeating Seleucus some time before 301 BCE and driving him out of Punjab. Peace was eventually concluded: in return for 500 elephants, Seleucus gave him not only his daughter but also eastern Afghanistan, Baluchistan and the area west of the Indus. The agreement was probably not acrimonious, since Seleucus sent an ambassador to Chandragupta’s court. That ambassador was Megasthenes, who wrote the Indica.

How Big Was the Empire?

Chandragupta built a vast empire that included Bihar and substantial parts of Orissa and Bengal, as well as western and north-western India and the Deccan. Aside from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and parts of the north-east, the Mauryas ruled virtually the entire subcontinent. In the north-west they held areas that did not even form part of the British empire. The Junagadh inscription of Rudradaman mentions Pushyagupta, the provincial governor of Chandragupta, which shows the empire extended as far west as Gujarat. The Mauryas also conquered the republics or sanghas that Kautilya considered obstacles to the growth of the empire, a point linked to The Mahajanapadas and the Republican Experiment. His sons were appointed viceroys of provinces, and the empire passed intact to his son. Bindusara succeeded him in 297 BCE in a peaceful transition, according to another account.

What happened to Chandragupta at the end is uncertain. The Jaina tradition says he spent his last years as an ascetic at Chandragiri near Shravanabelagola in Karnataka, a late tradition not corroborated by any other source, and another account says he probably renounced the world. As an analytical point, the empire’s rise combined three factors: the military power inherited from Magadha, the political vacuum in the north-west after Alexander, and an adviser who built a system of administration, described in Mauryan Administration (Arthashastra and Megasthenes’ Indica).

Why Is This Topic Important?

• Foundation Of the first pan-Indian empire
• Source criticism Traditions differ
• Foreign link Greek relations

What Came Next?

The next topic describes the administration of the Mauryan Empire. Next topic: Mauryan Administration (Arthashastra and Megasthenes’ Indica).

Key People and Terms

• Chanakya Kautilya, adviser of Chandragupta
• Sandrakottus Greek name of Chandragupta
• Pipphalivana Republic of the Mauryas
• Seleucus Alexander’s general
• Mudrarakshasa Play on Chanakya’s strategies
• Pushyagupta Governor under Chandragupta

Exam Corner

Mains Angle

Questions ask about the founding and expansion. These points add depth.

• Origins Traditions
• Expansion North-west and Deccan
• Foreign policy Seleucus